my friend alisha

my friend alisha has been in jail for 45 days. she was arrested valentines day night for drug possession. i have been trying to go see her for the last few weeks and finally got to on monday morning.

she has 5 beautiful children, that i love like they were my own. kenyatta is 16, aaron is 10, amir is 5, alexis (sugar mama) is 3 and baby azaih (apple bottom) is almost 1. i could put amir and sugar mama in my pocket and carry them around with me every second of every day. i love them so much.

it is so hard to see this family and all the dynamics from the outside and not want to just try to fix it, but i am not capable of that. what i can do is love, and i try my very best to do just that.

as amy and i were in the visitation room of the jail in downtown jackson, alisha came in, saw us and you could see the despair and grief almost instantly disappear. no one has been to see her since she has been in. her family doesn't know what to do. she grabbed both phones and just started crying. so did i. the first thing she asked "have you seen my babies" i started crying more. we talked, we laughed, we cried, we prayed.

she has been sitting still for 45 days, body free of drugs, mind clear of fog, heart full of hurt. jesus is using her in there though, she is sharing her story with others. yes, she made bad choices and she has to be responsible for them. but jesus doesn't love her any less than he loves me. in fact, jesus loves her so much that he saved her life on valentines night, no doubt about that. and he loves her so much he is keeping her there until he is ready for her to leave. and he loves her so much that he is restoring her family. and he loves her so much that those 5 kids are hers. and he loves me so much that i got the amazing time to spend with her and look her in the eyes and tell her that he loves me the same way he loves her.